At no point have I or do I wish for DD to fail so I can be correct in my opinion.

In fact, I stated this numerous times in my posts.

I hoped to be wrong on him because whether he stayed or was subsequently traded it was in Toronto's best interests and subsequently my best interests as a fan of the team.

Everything you say here is completely accurate and I can definitely say that you CLEARLY hoped you were wrong. You were also one of the front runners in pointing out that players RARELY improve significantly beyond their third year, centers excepted. Players rarely do improve. You are 100% right about that. And I shouldn't have said you were one of DeMar's "critics". Poor choice of words. You were one of the realists who were trying to temper expectations.

I think I clearly labelled myself a Matt52 fanboy in about my second or third week as a member of this forum. Nothings changed there.

Everything you say here is completely accurate and I can definitely say that you CLEARLY hoped you were wrong. You were also one of the front runners in pointing out that players RARELY improve significantly beyond their third year, centers excepted. Players rarely do improve. You are 100% right about that. And I shouldn't have said you were one of DeMar's "critics". Poor choice of words. You were one of the realists who were trying to temper expectations.

I think I clearly labelled myself a Matt52 fanboy in about my second or third week as a member of this forum. Nothings changed there.

As far as terminology, I am clearly going to have to up my game.

I think critic is fair, fwiw. It is just in terms of his improvement in year five I was clearly wrong.

I think you need to use smaller words because it seems many of them confound me.

No team has been overlooked like Toronto this season. There has been an obvious explanation for that: the Raptors have resided in the third spot in a two-team conference, the standings version of a giant blind spot.

There’s an anonymity factor at play with the roster as well. The Point Forward has pointed out Kyle Lowry’s All-Star snub, made a point to highlight Amir Johnson’s impact, and noted the steady, year-after-year improvement of DeMar DeRozan. Even so, this feels like a team that could be 32-42 just as easily as it is 42-32, if GM Masai Ujiri hadn’t moved out Andrea Bargnani and Rudy Gay, and if the remaining pieces hadn’t so thoroughly adopted such a committed style of play. If given the choice of Toronto’s roster, Chicago’s roster (even without Rose) or Washington’s roster or Brooklyn’s roster, it’s quite possible that the Raptors would come out fourth, on paper. That they are headed for a division title and battling with the Bulls for the third seed should merit Dwane Casey — who entered the season on the hot seat — some serious Coach of the Year consideration.

DOLLINGER: 76ers move up in Power Rankings after streak-snapping win

Lowry has become practically synonymous with “bulldog” this season, but let’s not leave DeRozan out of that equation either. In Year Five, DeRozan has rewritten his previous reputation as a raw leaper with little else going for him. The 24-year-old guard has played the third-most minutes in the league for a team that boasts a No. 7 ranked defense, and he’s turned himself into a top-10 scorer largely through will power. He’s shooting a career-best 30.1 percent from deep — which is still rough — but he’s filled out his game in other areas, registering career-highs in rebounds, assists, Player Efficiency Rating and Win Shares.

Perhaps most importantly, he’s doing exactly what a player with his physical talents (and lack of range) should do: get to the free-throw line. DeRozan currently ranks No. 5 in the league in free-throw attempts, trailing only Kevin Durant, Dwight Howard, Blake Griffin and Kevin Love. He might not have the smoothest handle or the prettiest stroke, but DeRozan deserves praise for figuring out how to maximize his usefulness in a way that takes a physical toll. It’s no easy task getting to the line more often than James Harden, LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony or Paul George. One relevant point of comparison: DeRozan’s 7.4 free-throw attempts per 36 minutes blow away the 4.4 per 36 minutes put up by Gay in Toronto last season. Gay, to his credit, ranks in the top 20 in free throws this season, but imagining him getting to the free-throw line almost eight times a game, night in and night out, is a truly scary hypothetical for defenses. DeRozan, in this way, has been a scary reality for opponents.

Until he picks up his overall shooting numbers, DeRozan is bound to be short-changed as an overall threat, and rightfully so. His shot charts are awash in yellow and red, and he’s one of only three players in the league this season attempting 17 shots a night while shooting less than 44 percent (George and Kyrie Irving are the others). Some of that inefficiency can be attributed to the burden placed on him as a top option on a team without an overwhelming amount of one-on-one offensive firepower around him, but some of it is still just a need for further skill refinement.

It’s reasonable to assume that DeRozan might struggle under the weight of a defense that can gameplan for his strengths and weaknesses; it’s also reasonable to assume that his potency (he has 16 games of 30+ points this season) might catch the basketball world off-guard, creating some headlines in the process.

Just came to post this. Demar has to be loving the attention as well. Even if they say they don't pay attention to it, I'm sure they do in a small way. And for all those people who said you can't get noticed in Toronto, its proving them wrong.

"That was Nasty right? Cocked that Joint back and banged on 'em." -James Johnson

Just came to post this. Demar has to be loving the attention as well. Even if they say they don't pay attention to it, I'm sure they do in a small way. And for all those people who said you can't get noticed in Toronto, its proving them wrong.

Just came to post this. Demar has to be loving the attention as well. Even if they say they don't pay attention to it, I'm sure they do in a small way. And for all those people who said you can't get noticed in Toronto, its proving them wrong.

Well considering DeMar usually posts the good articles written about him on his Facebook it's safe to say they pay attention

If DeMar doesn't pick up his game Raptors will lose the series. To me, DeRozan and Lowry are key players and both need to contribute well in order to win this series. Today, Lowry contributed good but DeRozan did not hence why they lost.

I don't put it all on him. No one was moving on offense, making it very difficult for him to create and penetrate.

yep. no idea why we couldn't do anything on offense, unless brooklyns mostly mediocre D all of a sudden has become elite or something. it just didn't look like we could move the ball around at all. meanwhile, brooklyn was swinging it around like crazy getting an insane amount of uncontested 3s that they luckily mostly missed.